The History of Egypt Podcast

244: B(a)y Your Command

The History of Egypt Podcast

Show Notes

Siptah & Chancellor Bay. The last years of Dynasty 19 are murky, with hints of disorder and violence. At the centre of affairs, the courtier Bay directed policy and controlled access to King Siptah. Pharaoh himself was sickly, possibly disabled. The power-shift culminated in a rather dramatic break...

Music: Keith Zizza and Luke Chaos.

Logo image: Siptah, from his tomb KV47 (Davis 1908).

Bibliography

Bierbrier, M. (2011). Bye-Bye Bay. In M. Collier & S. Snape (Eds.), Ramesside studies in honour of K. A. Kitchen (pp. 19–21). Rutherford.

Černý, J. (1966). A note on the chancellor Bay. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 93, 35--39.

Cooney, K. M. (2022). The New Kingdom of Egypt Under the Ramesside Dynasty. In D. T. Potts, N. Moeller, & K. Radner (Eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC (pp. 251--366). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687601.003.0027

Dodson, A. (2011). Fade to grey: The chancellor Bay, Éminence Grise of the late Nineteenth Dynasty. In M. Collier & S. Snape (Eds.), Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen (pp. 145--158). Rutherford.

Dodson, A. (2016). Poisoned Legacy: The Decline and Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty (Revised edn). American University in Cairo Press.

Dodson, A. (2025). Siptah’s leg and other stories. In A. F. Morris & H. Vogel (Eds.), Disability in ancient Egypt and Egyptology: All our yesterdays (pp. 214--220). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003440369-17

Drenkhahn, R. (1980). Die Elephantine-Stele des Sethnacht und ihr historischer Hintergrund. Harrassowitz.

Galassi, F. M., Habicht, M. E., & Rühli, F. J. (2017). Poliomyelitis in ancient Egypt? Neurological Sciences, 38, 375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2720-9

Goedicke, H. (1979). “Irsu, The Kharu” in Papyrus Harris. Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, 71, 1--17. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23858901

Grandet, P. (2000). L’execution du chancelier Bay: O.IFAO 1864. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 100, 339--345. https://www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/100/14/

Habicht, M. E., Varotto, E., Galassi, F. M., & Pate, F. D. (2022). The elusive disease of pharaoh Siptah (19th dynasty, ca. 1200 BC): Old problems and future perspectives. Neurological Sciences, 43, 747–748. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05649-6

Johnson, K. (2012). Transition and Legitimation in Egypt’s Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties: A Study of the Reigns of Siptah, Tausret, and Sethnakht [Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Memphis]. https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/498

Johnson, K. L., & Brand, P. (2013). Prince Seti-Merenptah, Chancellor Bay, and the Bark Shrine of Seti II at Karnak. Journal of Egyptian History, 6, 19--45. https://doi.org/10.1163/18741665-12340001

Kahn, D. (2010). Who is meddling in Egypt’s affairs? The identity of the Asiatics in the Elephantine Stele of Sethnakhte and the historicity of the Medinet Habu Asiatic war reliefs. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2(1), 14--23. http://jaei.library.arizona.edu

Leprohon, R. J. (2013). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Society of Biblical Literature.

Lesko, L. H. (1966). A little more evidence for the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 5, 29–32. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40000169

Safronov, A. (2013). New titles of the Great Chancellor Bay. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 99, 290--295. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644942

Schneider, T. (2003). Siptah und Beja: Neubeurteilung einer historischen Konstellation. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 130, 134--146.

Servajean, F. (2014). Mérenptah et la fin de la XIXe dynastie. Pygmalion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More from The History of Egypt Podcast

Oct 12, 2026

In 2025 I did an interview with the AskHistorians podcast, a reddit-based show where specialists discuss history and major questions about their fields.

Oct 5, 2026

Siptah, Tausret, Setnakht. Between 1205--1202 BCE, the royal house of Ramesses II crumbled into illegitimacy. After Siptah, the queen Tausret declared herself pharaoh. Her reign leaves tantalising traces. But shortly after, a man named Set-Nakht ("Seth is Victorious") seized the throne and inaugurated the 20th Dynasty. Subsequently, he and his successors declared the late 19th Dynasty a period of "empty years," lacking legitimacy, with no true ruler.

Sep 14, 2026

Tausret, Siptah, Bay, and the case of Paneb. By 1210 BCE, the southern rebellion was dying down, but trouble was far from over. The courtier Bay appears on the scene, first as an agent of Sety II, then as a "kingmaker" in his own right. Tausret increases her power, becoming a regent figure (like Hatshepsut). The young ruler Siptah, physically enfeebled and of uncertain heritage, provides a veil of legitimacy for a new triumvirate.

Sep 7, 2026

Between 1215 and 1211 BCE, Egypt was divided. A rebellion in the south, launched by Amen-messe "Born of Amun" disrupted the succession of Sety II, son of Merneptah. Records from this shadowy period hint at violence and corruption in Waset/Luxor, as the usurper took control and established a new regime. The impact of this conflict would have long-lasting ramifications for the 19th Dynasty...

Aug 31, 2026

From 1217 to 1221 CE, Egypt faced an invasion in the Delta. A bizarre tale of D-Day-esque beach landings, improvised nun-chucks, and the vengeance of Hapi ensued. Today's guest Dr. Thomas Smith explains the story and introduces his new book The Fifth Crusade: A History of the Epic Campaign to Conquer Egypt.

See all episodes →